A new string of celebrity brands are entering the potentially US$ 480 billion dollar beauty and skincare market hoping to replicate the success seen by Rihanna, Kylie Jenner or Jessica Alba. But can they make their fortunes blush in an already saturated market? Kim Kardashian, Haily Bieber, Scarlett Johansson, Kate Moss, Idris-Sabrina Elba and unexpected names such as Brad Pitt & Travis Barker – are only some of the celebrities who have introduced their beauty and skincare brands in the last few months. Can the market really accommodate more celebrity sparkle?
“My first reaction when I see a celebrity launching a beauty brand is why are they doing it? What is it that they are adding to the industry that we haven’t already seen before?!”, exclaims Karen Yeung, a Hong Kong born beauty & skincare blogger with over 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube.
“It really depends on which celebrity is launching the brand”, reasons Melanie Grant, Chanel skin expert from Australia. “There are certain celebrities who have genuine interest and passion in beauty or skincare like Kim Kardashian or Victoria Beckham. You can see that they are involved in the process. At the same time, it is astounding to see some celebrities launch skincare brands while they could launch, maybe, a Tequila brand instead!”, quips Grant who is also the author of Macmillan published – The Modern Guide to Skin Health.
An artificial intelligence (AI) enabled consumer study platform – Synthesio, scanned and categorised 600K English-only, online mentions related to celebrity cosmetics conversations. The largest cluster of conversation themes, making up 15.1% of the study, was “too many celebrity skincare lines.” Digging into the individual posts within the cluster revealed that consumers are frustrated by the sheer number of celebrity beauty brands and in some cases, shocked by price points, the report states.
Brad Pitt promoted Le Domaine Skincare is targeting a niche segment of the prestige skin care market that generated a revenue of US$24.39bn in 2022. A 50 ml bottle of moisturising and anti-aging cream is for 275 Euros on the brand’s website. What makes the product special are two patent pending ingredients, according to Le Domaine – that plans to launch a more accessible line of bath and beauty care in early 2023.
The Success Mantra for Celebrity Beauty and Skincare Brands
“Celebrity ties can spark awareness, but you need a quality product to really find continued success in the beauty industry”, says Dr Dennis Gross, a US board-certified dermatologist and co-founder of Dr Dennis Gross Skincare brand, whose products are used by Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, Selena Gomez and Constance Wu to name a few.
“The celebrity brand should have a story that is relatable and understandable. Also because consumers are a lot smarter than many might think – for eg – I don’t think there is going to be a lot of interest in Kate Moss’s brand because she hasn’t spoken about her passion to define beauty, besides being a model. Now for Kim Kardashian’s brand there is a story behind it, she is always on the red carpet and she talks about how she wears undergarments to shape her body – she has had 4 kids!”, reasons Yeung. “Fenty did a really good job, too”
Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty played a key role in earning her the billionaire status. She owns 50% of the brand that was valued at US$1.4 billion according to a Forbes report from 2021. As Rihanna’s beauty brand continues to grow its global presence with LVMH’s incubator – Kendo brands, it recently added Kane Lim of the Netflix’s Bling Empire fame as a brand ambassador to reinforce the message of inclusivity. “I love that as an Asian man, I’m able to join forces with a brand created by such a strong black woman,” says Lim. Some of Fenty’s phenomenal success is attributed to its diverse range of products for various skin shades.
“Great consumer products take time, testing, learning and a commitment to innovation”, adds Ben Jones, CEO of Haus Labs, Lady Gaga’s prestige make-up brand is also testing the ‘inclusivity’ mantra with the launch of a new foundation that has a key ingredient from Korea and comes in 51 shades. After the brand’s ‘Bad Romance’ with Amazon and a revenue reportedly of US$30 million (as per women’s wear daily), Lady Gaga gave Haus Labs a major makeover with new executives and a new sales strategy. Starting 2022, Haus Labs sells its inclusive, cruelty free and vegan products only through its own ecommerce website and via 500 Sephora stores with plans to expand more.
While there are contradicting reports about the true valuation of Kylie Jenner’s beauty brands, they have still managed to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. In 2020, Coty Inc. acquired 51% of Kylie’s beauty brands – Kylie Skin and Kylie Cosmetics. A year later, Kylie announced the relaunch of Kylie Cosmetics as clean and vegan.
Treading Prudently with Clean & Vegan Claims
“The clean beauty trend is a bit confusing even for me who is in the industry. It seems like a very ‘markety’ word to make the consumer feel better about what they are buying”, says Yeung.
“Labels like – clean, green, natural – can often be misleading for the consumer because there is no regulation to these terms, meaning brands can make claims without having to adhere to a standard set of rules or qualifications. This transparency comes through 3rd party research and independent clinical studies that allow products to be vetted without the bias of marketing or celebrity status. If a brand cannot provide evidence to back up its claims, the promises are too good to be true”, reasons Dr Gross. “Just because something claims to be vegan or clean does not mean that it will necessarily work and is safe to use”, echoes Grant.
Hailey Bieber’s newly launched skincare brand also claims to use clean ingredients. “Rhode is dedicated to making products based in science and great formulation”, says Bieber on the brand’s website. Bieber has also enrolled a cosmetic chemist and a dermatologist on the advisory board of her skincare brand “they guide our product innovation from initial formula to final glaze”, states her website.
While some celebrities may just lend their names and faces to their beauty or skincare brands, the wise ones are collaborating with qualified industry specialists to build constantly evolving & efficacious products, while not presuming the acuity of their large follower base.
